Virginia Tech (Game 7)

I can remember the statement like it was yesterday. We were up in East Lansing, Michigan on a crisp, Fall day like this one. Deion and crew had beaten all the erstwhile cockiness out of the Spartans, and the second string QB had just been literally taken off on a stretcher. As the wide-eyed and presumably slightly frightened third team gunslinger entered the coliseum, the expected hush settled over the crowd until a member of our traveling band of somewhat impaired southerners yelled “The next one is going out in a body bag!”. Ahh, sportsmanship.

The point is that in seasons’ past it was not the least bit unusual for opponents to prepare two quarterbacks to play FSU. When a player wearing a low number slammed into the turf and hit their medic alert bracelet, ambulances were standing by and prepared to assist. It did seem noteworthy that in Saturday’s tilt which occurred in anything but the Dynasty Era, our guests from Hillbilly country were scouring the sidelines for someone who could toss a rock farther than Charlie Brown on Halloween week. Good thing they had to go three-deep too, cuz our boys on the other side of the line of scrimmage were paddling across the Delaware with chopsticks.

I have been praising our coach-in-waiting for the past few weeks for his excellent preparation and willingness (maybe stubbornness) to stick with the gameplan in tough times. I am not a coach, although Holiday Inn Express is my favorite road hotel (great cinnamon buns), but Jimbo was truly the only one in Doak Campbell who could not see what was happening in front of him this week. Tech was bringing both safeties hard to the line on every first and second down. This team was absolutely focused on taking away the line of scrimmage. We were not going to have any success with short passes, or anything resembling a running game. Yet, for most of the first two quarters we…ran the ball, threw bubble screens and tried quick short passes. Even if Greg Carr had not caught either of those two miraculously wonderful balls in the third quarter, the defense would have backed up and opened up some lanes. The truth is that ever since Wake Forest when our young QB’s consistently failed to throw to the fellas wearing our jerseys deep over the middle, Jimbo has been deathly afraid to attack this area again. No turnovers equal wins – I get it – but negative 12 yards in the first quarter and (whoopee) 70 yards by halftime will equal a loss soon enough.

As I said last week, Carr has been outstanding all year as a receiver. I know that he looks like a third grade girl playing sing-songy hand games with the DB’s when he blocks, but make sure he gets three bombs a game thrown his way. Make the other guys double him and watch how Preston Parker and Bert Reed explode in the short zones on slants. OK, back to the cinnamon bun. I will say that Rodney Hudson is the finest OL that has played for FSU in a decade. Have some fun for a few plays and just watch him maul his ugly jerseyed friends on the other side of the line. I kinda wish he would step on his pancaked buddies once in a while, but I guess the point has been made at that juncture.

I am excited about the defense. I am grateful that Patrick Robinson continues to get healthy. He had a holding call on Saturday that was downright funny. DB’s are allowed to man-up on the little fast guys in the first five yards. Well, our hero twice stopped the WR in his tracks and once hit him so hard he landed on his backside – now that will destroy the timing of the play. The officials had no idea what to do with this perfectly legal, yet seemingly nefarious situation, so knowing that FSU was a little under our usual allotment of ACC penalties, they slapped him with a hold. Ahhh, sportsmanship.

Everette Brown obviously had some fun with the only team stupid enough to single team him all year. I also think that Derrick Nicholson deserves some praise for just…well…everything. He does not make mistakes and is seems to be in the right gap every time. My only beef with Mickey is that Derrick is the only guy on the defense that never gets a blow. We have a big time recruit in Vince Williams (who caused the fumble on the kickoff this week) as his backup and Derrick is a Senior. The reality that FSU defense is a modicum of consistency is due to the fact that injuries and graduation do not affect us due to Mickey’s philosophy of playing so many folks. Need to get the young MLB some time…

Finally, the aforementioned Coach Andews deserves kudos again for his ability to adjust at the half. 37 yards allowed in the second 30 minutes. I know that the Tech QB had both letters and numbers on his jersey, but that is patently ridiculous. He will need that type of adjustment this week as we play an offense that takes some getting used to…It is almost a given that Georgia Tech will score early as we figure out how to handle this junk attack. I have all the confidence in the World that MA will tweak the car into cruise.; will Jimbo be able to do the same?

Go Noles!